Chapter 1069: Kundara (2)
Fearsome Blood King.
A Long-lived Being residing in Outer Tribulation City, Kundara, and a vampire possessing True Blood, who receives the highest respect among them.
The individual who assisted in hiding Kaiser’s body, and the one who authored the Blood-Thought Scribe.
Simultaneously, a Long-lived Being possessing immense authority, capable of blocking all paths leading to Kundara.
In terms of standing, a True Blood species that stands shoulder to shoulder with Ars Nova’s highest-ranking nobles.
Yet, Lennok had not expected such a formidable Long-lived Being to appear before him immediately upon his arrival in Kundara.
Nor had he imagined she would have the appearance of a young girl, completely detached from the status of someone who had lived for hundreds of years.
“Did you directly come all the way here from Kundara the moment you sensed the Blood-Thought Scribe’s energy?”
“I made and forgot about it quite a long time ago, and there’s no reason for it to return at this particular time.”
The girl crossed her arms.
Her blood-red eyes, like a sinister mirror, reflected Lennok.
“Well, I generally understand the situation. You’re the ones who caused a big commotion in Alohan’s Deep Sea Domain, aren’t you?”
“……”
“I heard there was a pretty large-scale massacre near the Western Front, so that must have been you.”
A casual tone that hardly matched the formidable reputation of the Fearsome Blood King, a supreme Long-lived Being.
No, more than that, he hadn’t imagined the Fearsome Blood King would be a woman.
Were high-ranking vampires often female, like Madam?
While Lennok was lost in thought, the Fearsome Blood King extended a hand towards him.
“Anyway, that’s my item, so give it back. I came all this way to get it.”
“……Before that, I have something I want to ask.”
Lennok, naturally raising the notebook out of the Fearsome Blood King’s reach, spoke.
“Are you truly the one who hid Kaiser Bajour’s body in Kundara?”
“……”
At that moment, the girl, who had been reaching out towards the notebook Lennok held up, stopped moving.
The Fearsome Blood King, staring intently at Lennok with blood-red eyes, said,
“The Blood-Thought Scribe is a recording device I made long ago to bypass The Prohibition.”
“……”
“It was an item created for sharing information about the project’s failure, but its utility was limited, so I couldn’t keep it.”
The girl, gesturing quickly at the notebook, said,
“Promise to return the Blood-Thought Scribe. Then I’ll tell you the facts you’re curious about.”
“If you have an appropriate answer to my questions, I’ll seriously consider it.”
While the Blood-Thought Scribe was valuable, if he could hand it over to the Fearsome Blood King and get answers about Kaiser, it would be a profitable deal.
If lucky, he might achieve his entire purpose for coming to Kundara faster than expected.
There was no reason to refuse this offer just to save one artifact.
“However, I’d like confirmation on that part first. That much should be possible, right?”
Lennok narrowed his eyes, looking at the girl.
“I came to this city to see Kaiser Bajour’s conclusion. If that question is resolved, I’m willing to leave Kundara immediately.”
“……”
“If you truly are the Fearsome Blood King herself, I think confirmation of that fact is needed first.”
“You keep calling me ‘Fearsome Blood King’ or whatever since just now.”
The girl scoffed.
“It’s annoying, so don’t call me that. Didn’t you know that name was originally created to insult me?”
“An insult?”
If the epithet Fearsome Blood King were interpreted, it would be closer to a duke who fears blood.
He had thought it an un-vampire-like epithet, but did that mean it was originally created to insult her?
But the Fearsome Blood King narrowed her eyes at Lennok’s reaction.
“You don’t know. You weren’t involved with the project at the time, were you?”
“……”
“And daring to speak words that would fall under The Prohibition, despite being a short-lived species… were you born after the project? Well, fine.”
Whoosh!!
The moment the girl spoke and snapped her fingers, a red veil surged up from beneath her feet.
Its size was enough to envelop nearly half of the vast, foggy bridge.
At the overwhelming surge of blood flow, even Lennok was momentarily startled, raising his gaze.
The blood-red veil enveloped the spot where Lennok and Olivera were standing and spun violently.
Whoosh!!!
The moment the rapidly spinning red veil faded in color, illuminating the surroundings with transparency.
Lennok now stood in the center of a blood palace adorned with red tapestries.
“……!”
Blood-red ceilings and corridors. A dark red chandelier slowly revolving overhead.
It seemed the Fearsome Blood King had solidified the vast blood flow she conjured, transforming it into a blood palace.
As he looked around the expansive palace, he saw a colossal throne set in the center of the palace lobby.
The figure of the girl perched precariously on the absurdly enormous throne, too large for a human.
The girl, seated with crossed legs, leaned her upper body against the armrest of the throne, her gaze expressionless.
“My Blood-Veil Palace is an independent territory existing on the boundary between reality and the Imaginary Dimension.”
The Fearsome Blood King said, leaning against the throne.
“Since it’s a concept that traverses space, I can make you contact my territory without casting individual spatial transfers on you.”
“……”
“Is this enough to prove that I am the Fearsome Blood King herself?”
She hadn’t cast a spatial transfer on Lennok and Olivera, but rather forcibly connected the surrounding space with her Blood-Veil Palace?
A vampire’s territory existing on the boundary between reality and the Imaginary Dimension.
The power to draw that ambiguous space into reality and forcibly connect it to Lennok and Olivera’s surroundings.
Realizing this, Lennok nodded and extended the Blood-Thought Scribe notebook to the girl.
“Indeed, if you can freely wield blood magic to this extent, you must be the Fearsome Blood King herself.”
While the Fearsome Blood King herself spoke casually, directly manipulating the Imaginary Dimension was an ability comparable to the False Morning Star.
The blood magic of a high-ranking vampire. It was undoubtedly an advanced spellcraft whose principles even Lennok found difficult to fathom.
There could be no other True Blood vampire who could wield such blood magic freely and knew about the Blood-Thought Scribe, besides the Fearsome Blood King.
“Oh, we’re getting along better than I thought.”
As Lennok willingly handed over the Blood-Thought Scribe, the girl’s expression softened slightly.
She took the worn notebook, seeming slightly pleased, and slowly turned its old pages as she spoke.
“Good. With this notebook, I can at least reduce the risks in future endeavors.”
“……”
“Since you returned the notebook willingly, I’ll answer a few questions. What do you want to hear first?”
“……Where is Kaiser Bajour’s body stored?”
Lennok quickly regained his composure and spoke.
For whatever reason, the Fearsome Blood King seemed inclined to answer Lennok’s questions in exchange for the Blood-Thought Scribe.
He didn’t know how important the Blood-Thought Scribe was to her, but Lennok knew well how crucial it was to get answers when one could.
In Lennok’s experience, those bound by The Prohibition, directly or indirectly, often had vastly different information they could reveal depending on the time and situation.
Even the possible answers changed depending on how much the other party knew about the contents of The Prohibition, or whether they were born after it was established.
Unless he borrowed the special causality of Anathema’s name, opportunities like this wouldn’t come so easily.
Lennok, having quickly decided on his question, looked at the Fearsome Blood King with a much calmer gaze and asked,
“In the first place, is it true that you were the one who recovered Kaiser’s body and determined its storage location?”
“……”
At Lennok’s unhesitating questioning, even Olivera instinctively tensed.
It was likely because she, too, instinctively sensed that answers might be obtained from the vampire before them, right here.
But the Fearsome Blood King listened to Lennok’s words and tilted her head with an odd expression.
“Kaiser Bajour’s body is stored in the Tenth Coffer of the Ninth Tribulation.”
The Fearsome Blood King said in a casual tone.
“……Ninth Tribulation?”
“After Faud Older’s rebellion failed, we narrowed down the candidate locations to hide Kaiser’s body to two.”
The girl tilted her head.
“Originally, we debated between Yorta’s Mugan and Kundara’s Ninth Tribulation, but someone was already using Mugan for the purpose we had in mind.”
“……”
The Fearsome Blood King didn’t explain in detail, but Lennok immediately understood what she meant.
Military Spirit City, Yorta. The body of the Ascendant Dorye, stored in Mugan’s sanctuary.
Lennok had never forgotten that body, which had been used as the Pontiff’s vessel, not for a single moment.
But Lennok paid more attention to the word “Ninth Tribulation” that the girl mentioned.
Alohan had said that to convert lifespan stored in a Ruyi Orb, one had to ascend to the Sanctuary of the Eighth Tribulation.
Beyond the Eighth Tribulation, which even the Water God Dragon King himself had never visited, if it was the Ninth Tribulation, located even higher…
Lennok asked, as if unable to believe it.
“Are you saying Kaiser’s body is hidden in a place only 9th-level Ascendants can enter?”
Level 7, completing seven hierarchies of self-metamorphosis.
Level 8, transcending hierarchy itself.
Level 9, acquiring the qualification to challenge Ascension.
The space of the Ninth Tribulation that the Fearsome Blood King spoke of undoubtedly referred to a place that materialized the rules of such hierarchies.
He had vaguely surmised it since hearing Alohan’s explanation, but now there was no doubt.
Kundara was a city of Long-lived Beings, created with its entire urban structure aligned with hierarchies.
The “Tribulation” they spoke of referred to the very realm reached by superhumans who had built up their hierarchies.
If so, the meaning of “Outer Tribulation,” symbolizing Kundara beyond the Eighth and Ninth Tribulations, was indeed—
The Fearsome Blood King nodded.
“That’s right. Moving Kaiser’s body there in the first place was done with the help of an Ascendant.”
“……”
The gateway of the Ninth Tribulation, which only Ascendants could pass. The Fearsome Blood King’s explanation that Kaiser’s body was stored beyond it.
He knew the scale of Outer Tribulation City, where Long-lived Beings lived for hundreds of years, was unrealistic.
But he hadn’t imagined that a hidden sanctuary, accessible only to Ascendants, would officially exist within the city.
Just as Lennok, realizing that finding Kaiser’s body was a much more difficult situation than he’d imagined, hardened his expression, the Fearsome Blood King stroked the Blood-Thought Scribe.
“As it happens, there’s been some commotion recently regarding the Ninth Tribulation. I needed this item for consultation myself. It was helpful.”
“……”
Could it be that even information about the Ninth Tribulation was recorded within the Blood-Thought Scribe?
If the Fearsome Blood King herself sought consultation through the Blood-Thought Scribe, the notebook might have held greater potential than he had thought.
But it was highly probable that without a deal of this magnitude, the Fearsome Blood King would not have opened her mouth in the first place.
Just as Lennok was thinking this and quickly organizing the situation in his mind.
“Alright, this should be enough, right?”
The Fearsome Blood King said, raising the Blood-Thought Scribe in her hand.
“Thank you for returning the Blood-Thought Scribe, but you’ll have to help me with one more procedure.”
“Procedure?”
“The administrator authority you gained when you took over the Blood-Thought Scribe. I need you to transfer it back to me.”
“……”
“I’ll give you a drop of my blood, so feed it to the Blood-Thought Scribe. Then, you just have to directly command it to transfer ownership to me.”
With those words, a red drop of blood seeped from the tip of the Fearsome Blood King’s finger.
The Fearsome Blood King skillfully dabbed it onto her fingertip, then descended from the throne and stood before Lennok.
“Very well.”
Lennok opened the old notebook and received the drop of blood the Fearsome Blood King let fall onto its page.
The moment the red drop of blood melted onto the Blood-Thought Scribe’s page, the entire page greatly quivered and convulsed.
=……
But despite the violent reaction, the Blood-Thought Scribe remained silent, offering no answer.
“……?”
Leaving the girl, who frowned in confusion, Lennok immediately dabbed a drop of blood onto the notebook.
This time, the notebook immediately responded.
=I greet the Transcendent who bears a great mission. How may I assist you?
Lennok immediately wrote the words.
=I intend to transfer your ownership to the Fearsome Blood King, your author.
=This Blood-Thought Scribe, Zyble, has consistently received ownership transfers under the guidance of a suitable custodian throughout generations.
The notebook replied.
=This goes against the Blood-Thought Scribe’s principle of operating under the more suitable owner.
“……What is it saying?”
=Without following due process, ownership transfer is impossible.
“……”
The Blood-Thought Scribe’s reply, implying the procedure was not legitimate even after both the Fearsome Blood King and Lennok had injected blood once.
The Fearsome Blood King, frowning, cut her fingertip again and dropped blood onto the notebook.
The notebook’s reply was identical.
=You are not a suitable owner.
Even after the Fearsome Blood King dropped blood several more times, the answer remained similar.
=The blood of a more exceptional Transcendent is required.
“……You.”
Only then did the Fearsome Blood King’s expression turn grim, realizing that the Blood-Thought Scribe was refusing her commands.
“Are you, an item I made, now going to reject the rules of blood that I created?”
=……
“If you must follow the owner with superior blood, then it’s only natural that I should reclaim your ownership.”
Splash!!
The girl, dropping enough blood to thoroughly soak the notebook’s page, said,
“I am your owner. Transfer ownership immediately.”
=……
The Blood-Thought Scribe did not reply.
It only displayed and erased strange phrases on the page for a long time, as if choosing an appropriate answer.
The answer that finally appeared on the notebook’s page after much hesitation was quite concise.
=I refuse.
“……”
=I prefer my current owner.
Speechless, the Fearsome Blood King looked up at Lennok with a bewildered gaze.